NBA Player Enes Kanter Freedom Doesn’t Feel Free to Play Again in the League, Commissioner Silver Denies Blackballing

Amiliano FragosoMar 24th, 2022, 6:00 pm
 

Enes Kanter Freedom and Tucker Carlson

NBA free agent center Enes Kanter Freedom may have changed his name this year, but he feels far from free to play in the best basketball league in the world at the moment, thanks to his political views.

The 29-year-old was released by the Houston Rockets on Feb. 14 but has spent much of the last few seasons speaking out against various social issues. This includes the NBA’s ongoing business relationship with China while the country’s ongoing genocide against Muslim Uyghurs continues.

But while Freedom had some spare time, The New York Times decided to reach out to NBA big man himself to get his take on the matter. While he didn’t agree to be interviewed in person or over the phone, he did respond via text message.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize why I got little playing time and was released,” he said. “But it does take people with a conscience to speak out and say it’s not right.”

But while Freedom insinuates that the NBA has “blackballed” him from playing, commissioner Adam Silver has vehemently denied such accusations.

“We spoke directly about his activities this season,” Silver said, “and I made it absolutely clear to him that it was completely within his right to speak out on issues that he was passionate about.”

This tension has divided the sports media world as personalities are reacting to the situation both positively and negatively.

Kanter Freedom is in his 11th season in the NBA and saw him average a career-low 11.7 minutes on the floor with the Boston Celtics earlier this season. Freedom has averaged over 11 points and almost eight rebounds a game for his career.

Read the article attached via The New York Times

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